Shortening container device



y 1969 R N. WOOD SHORTENING CONTAINER DEVICE Filed April 26, 1967 i INVENTOR. Romr/V W000 wad/Ma United States Patent 3,443,971 SHORTENINGCONTAINER DEVICE Robert N. Wood, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to InlandContainer Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of IndianaFiled Apr. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 633,995 Int. Cl. B65d 85/74, 85/72 US. Cl.99-171 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the inventionThis invention relates generally to the packaging of commodities andmore particularly relates to a container particularly well adapted tothe packaging of meltable products such as shortening and the like.

Packaging bulk quantities of shortening leads to a number of problems.For example, present sanitary sealing methods for shortening exhibit thedifficulty in removing all of the shortening from the container. Theproblem of waste is particularly serious in commercial usage where largevats of shortening are used in preparing large quantities of food. Theaccumulated amount of waste in processing fifty pound bulk cubes, forexample, can be considerable.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invetnion to provide ashortening container which eliminates the problem of waste yet providesa sanitary packaging means.

Summary A plastic bag in the form of a tube having a single sealed seamclosing its lower end is received inside a generally rectangular cartonof corrugated fibreboard. Half of the perimeter of the bag is secured tothe upper flaps of the carton to assure that it will remain closedduring carton assembly and will remain in position during filling thebag with a fiowable product such as melted shortening.

The shortening is allowed to solidify. The plastic bag is then detachedfrom the carton flaps and closed so that the bag is free within thecarton. This permits the end user to dump the bag and its contents fromthe carton as a single unit into the vat where the shortening is to bemelted. After the shortening has completely melted, the bag is removedfrom the vat.

Brief description of the drawings The full nature of the invention willbe understood from the accompanying drawings and the followingdescription and claims,

FIG. 1 is a view of the fibreboard blank with the plastic bag mountedthereto, the blank being shown as it appears before the ends thereof arejoined.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the partially assembled fibreboard blankof FIG. 1 with the plastic bag closed.

FIG. 3 is a persepctive view of the blank of FIG. 2 with the bag openprior to filling.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a filled assembly with the plastic bagclosed.

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FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a completed assembly. FIG. 6 is aperspective view of the bag and contents being dumped from the assemblyas a single unit.

Description of preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings indetail, FIG. 1 shows a carton blank 11 typically made of double-facedcorrugated fibreboard having score lines 12, 13 and 14 dividing theblank into four panels 16 through 19. Panels 16 through 19 have scorelines 20 through 23 defining upper flaps 24 through 27 and score lines28 through 31 defining bottom flaps 32 through 35.

A bag 36 of fluid-tight flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene,overlies panel 18 and half of panels 17 and 19. The bag is actuallyformed of a tube of polyethylene sheeting and is shown lying flat withthe lower edges of the tube sealed in a single seam 37 whereby thebottom of the bag or tube is closed, and is preferably aligned with thebottom edge of the bottom flaps. The material of the bag which liesimmediately in contact with upper flap 26 and half of flaps 25 and 27 issecured thereto by intermittent, horizontal, strippable, adhesive strips38, 39, and 40. The adhesive strips extend across upper flap 26 and partway across flaps 25 and 27.

When panels 16 and 19 are folded on score lines 12 and 14 respectivelyand their ends placed together (with tab 42 providing the conventionalmanufacturers joint closure), and lower flaps 32 through 35 are foldedon score lines 28 through 31, respectively, and sealed, by conventionalexteriorly applied tape, the carton has the appearance shown in FIG. 3when ready for filling. The upper edge 41 of the plastic bag remainsclosed until the container is to be filled thereby insuring acontamination free bag as shown in FIG. 2.

The upper edge of the bag is then opened and folded over the upper flapsof the carton as shown in FIG. 3. Shortening in a liquid state is fedinto the open container and allowed to solidify. The bag is then pulledfree from the adhesive strips, 38, 39 and 40 and the upper end is closedby folding as shown in FIG. 4, tying or the like. The bag cannot, underany circumstances, be closed until it is released from the container.The container flaps, in turn, must be free of the bag in order to befolded for box closure under all circumstances.

The upper flaps 24 through 27 are then folded on score lines 20 through23 respectively to close the carton. When the carton reaches itsdestination, the carton is opened and inverted as shown in FIG. 6 andthe bag and its contents are dumped from the carton as a single unit andinto a heating vessel wherein the shortening is melted. The bag is thenfished out of the vessel once the shortening has completely meltedthereby eliminating any possibility of waste.

Placement of the bag is extremely important to insure proper opening ofthe bag when the container is assembled. The bag must be placed on theblank so that it extends from the center of panel 17 to the center ofpanel 19. If this is not done, the bag will not open as intended and thebag will be out of position. The bottom seal 37 should be parallel withthe bottom of the blank to insure a rfiat bottom on the bag when it isfilled without pulling the bag away from the walls of the container.

It will be recognized that the container of the present invention iswell suited to various other assembly constructions. Therefore, whilethe invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in thedrawings and foregoing descriptions, they are to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modificationsmay readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and withinthe broad scope of the. invention, reference being had to the appendedclaims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A container comprising: a flexible bag formed of a tube of flexiblematerial having a single sealed seam closing its lower end and adaptedto be filled with a flowable material; a fibreboard carton surroundingsaid bag, said carton having first, second third and fourth upper flaps;first strippable adhesive means extending across the interior surface ofone of said flaps, second strippable adhesive means extending across aportion only of the interior surface of the flap adjacent the flapcarrying said first adhesive means, third strippable adhesive meansextending across a portion only of the interior surface of the otherflap adjacent the flap carrying said first adhesive means; said adhesivemeans securing said bag to the carton flaps during container assemblyand filling and permitting said bag to remain closed until it is openedfor filling thereby assuring an uncontaminated container, the bag beingadapted to be freed from said carton after filling and closure, therebypermitting the liner and its contents to be dumped from the carton as asingle unit.

2. A container in accord with claim 1 wherein said flowable material isshortening, said shortening being introduced into said bag in a fiowablestate, said bag being detached from said carton and closed after saidshortening solidifies; whereby said bag and shortening may be dumpedfrom said carton into a heated vessel as a single unit with said bagbeing retrieved from said vessel after said shortening has melted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,273 3/ 1902 Birnie et al.2,095,910 10/ 1937 Bergstein. 2,177,918 10/1939 Vogt et al. 2,493,337l/l950 Buttery. 3,061,165 10/1962 Rench et al. 3,114,300 12/1963Bianchi. 3,208,658 9/ 1965 Membrino. 3,321,070 5/1967 ChildS. 3,344,97110/ 1967 Walker.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 229 14

